Tresa and I have been working on our baby, getting ready for a month long cruise through the San Juan Islands starting July 5th.

LONG list of refitting and upgrades!!! VERY LONG list! LOL! (Including 25 gallons worth of water tanks and deck fills, 200watts of solar, electrical (Re-did our 120v AC so we have proper shore plugs, a double pole breaker, a GFCI outlet and a 120v 8A ProMariner dual bank charger, navigation (GPS and a second depth/fish-finder), Installed an adjustable O/B mount on our transom for our 6hp Evinrude (Serves to lower the O/B to dinghy height for easy access as well as an emergency back up engine: UP: it's out of the water, DOWN: the water intakes are 3" below water line. That way, if our primary engine quits, we can lower the 6hp for emergency use.

One of the biggest upgrades was getting a 25# Mantus anchor, 40' of new 5/16" HT G4 chain and braided nylon rode... The trick, was how to mount it on the bow of a C26?

Easy (LMHO here! Anything BUT easy!)
Photos should explain most of it... Everything has been backed by 2 sheets of ply, lots of WEST epoxy with HD adhesive filler, wide fairings underneath and fiberglass to bond it all to the hull.

I cut the original hatch, finished both parts off and permanently attached the forward half, hinging the rear part. We also purchased a manual anchorman windlass which will be centered between the aft bow roller and the hole in the aft part of the hatch. When we get to chain, the windless will dump the chain into the locker while the hatch is closed.

OK... It's almost 100 degrees and hotter underneath the tarp tent we errected to keep rain and snow off... Now, it just absorbs heat and radiates it down! Going to stop for the day and work in the shop on "indoor" tasks...

We're photo/video documenting everything, but time is short getting ready for our trip. I'll post more after we get back. (Maybe a few shots before we leave.

Just wanted to share.
Best,
Richard & Tresa

PS: I tried to download directly here, but didn't work. Uploaded to photobucket and I "think" I did it right?

There's LOTS of other photos of Dayenu and Tresa and I on her, but the first three photos should be of the refit of our bow and chain locker.
Hope it worked!
[/img]_________________What we now have, was once, only hoped for...

Either way, We will be on Destiny in the San Juan Islands and Gulf Islands including a trip to Victoria BC this year. We will be there early to mid July also!

If you see us hail us and say hi! Catch us at anchor somewhere or meet with us for a visit if you like! We will be aboard Destiny our 40' Beneteau. We are fairly easy to spot as we drag a dink that is way to big for our needs! LOL!

We'd LOVE to connect up there! Maybe we can exchange phone numbers to get a sense of where each of us will be? (I "think" we'll be arriving there on July 5th/6th? Our float plan is very flexible (Weather and currents!)... Putting in at Anacortes (spending two nights there... first to set up the boat, and then to just go out a little and run through our different systems, final charge of batteries... Our first destination is Blind bay for two nights (I want to practice using our new anchor system (setting and pulling up a few times each day just to get familiar with it), AND... to catch crabs! LOL!) After that, we're fairly open... At one point, we'll be going to Sidney, but want to be there on a Wednesday so we can go to the Thursday farmer's market. (We'll be up there for a month, so any week will work for us for that trip) The rest: The usual places, Reid harbor, Sucia, etc... When we come back from Sidney, we'll check in at Roche customs, spend the night and sail up and down the west coast of San Juan to look for Orcas.

Safety items? Ha! (Thanks for the head's up) I'm pretty sure we have the discharge notice posted, but I'll have to check to make sure... As an Ex-firefighter, safety is item # 1 for me! We have 2ea air horns, 5 fire extinguishers located around the boat (3 are current (NEW), USCG approved.) LOTS of NEW safety flares (hand held and 12g pistol, distress flag etc... I'll store the old ones separately) One thing I was hoping to do. was to pull up to the Coast Guard in Anacortes and "ask" for a safety inspection while we're still close to West Marine, before heading out. Always polite and friendly with them! They are our FRIENDS and I'm glad they're there!!!

We do have automatic inflatable PFDs with harness and tethers (We'll be setting out our jack lines!), but we also have two off shore non inflatable PFD with strobes, whistles etc... easy to reach under the V-Berth. (Again, ex-firefighter... I've seen too many simple mistakes turn into tragedies. I trained the kids when they lived with us to put knives, point-down in the dishwasher! LOL!))

Curious about the dink... We'll have PFDs but do we need lights, etc.. if we're only going to shore or exploring? Flares etc? Guess I can ask the USCG when we "invite/ask" them for a safety inspection before we leave Anacortes...

Yes, it would be GREAT to meet you up there! Never met an online sailor out in the water! Maybe we'll have some crab and can cook you guys dinner! (We have a great Thai garlic/ginger, sweet fired crab recipe!

Thanks again for sharing your safety list!
Best,
Richard & Tresa_________________What we now have, was once, only hoped for...

We have an older 10' Achilles (Paid $250), with an old (new for us), 6hp Evinrude twin cylinder 2 stroke... No frills, just floats and gets us to where we want to go. But we'll be happy with it.

Taking it up to the lake this weekend (AFTER we get our "weekend list" completed: Installing the windlass, cleats etc... Taking down the winter tent, lashing the boat down for towing, (Towing her to the DMV so they can put a sticker on the trailer and give us a license plate, then getting our new tires installed). Getting up to the lake will be great motivation to get our weekend tasks completed andIt will at least get us out on the water and a chance to test the new gas tank/hose and see how it performs with that O/B with both of us on it.
LOL!

Really looking forward to meeting you up there!

I'll call you a couple of weeks before we leave.

Best,
Richard & Tresa_________________What we now have, was once, only hoped for...

One thing that I hadn't thought about that came in REALLY HANDY, is using the windlass to crack up the mast! Made it easier than it has ever been! (and yes, we finally got the mast up to inspect rigging, adjust, add topping lift and flag halyards (Canadian and quarantine flags)...

Patched up our dinghy (9 patches, mostly on the bottom.). Has held same pressure for 5 days now! (Whew!)

Taking all sails to the local school gym to lay them out, inspect etc and then hoisting the main to check for clearance between boom and top of Bimini where I hope to install two, 100watt solar panels. Controller is already installed and wired up to the batteries. (I'll take photos of the cockpit locker which has now become our electrical "center".)

I'm also wiring up our GPS & Fish-finder (redundant depth finder), on our new teak mounting board (I think some of you will like this one! Slips into the companionway board slot and screws in place using a plastic knob bolt. It sits off to the side of the companionway so entrance into the cabin is still easy.)

OK... I'm realizing I'm stalling here, not really looking forward to climbing back up on deck! LOL! It's HOT up there!) Planning on wiring a new auto/cigarette plug over the starboard cabinets, wiring up our GPS and re-measuring for hoses and fittings for our fresh water system...

I'll try and take photos and post as I progress.

Still couldn't find a place to mount our manual Whale bilge pump... I'm pretty sure I'll be removing the Port cockpit window, sealing it up and mounting it just forward of the cockpit locker, but not enough time for this trip. Instead (just for this trip), I found a 12v pump, mounted it on a board and wired it with fuse to be plugged directly into either battery. a hose will feed down by the cabin ladder into the bilge with the other hose feeding overboard or into the cockpit. (At least it's something... If there's something going wrong (Only through hull is our knot meter and it has a SS cap and I'm making a wood plug.) If anything goes more wrong than that... Well, we just won't talk about that for now...

OK... back to work... Only 19 days left before we leave! =O

Best, Richard_________________What we now have, was once, only hoped for...